THE HORROR OF HAINAN

With time running out on our visa we flew to Hainan, a tropical island off the south coast of China, for a final few days of sun, sea & sand. It certainly was sunny and indeed there was a beach with sea included, but it wasn't exactly what we were hoping for. As beach resorts go, Sanya was one of the ugliest we've been to... high-rise hotels scattered the coastline in a haphazard way, along with a characterless collection of cheap, filthy eateries and although the beach & sea weren't too bad on our first day (as long as you didn't look behind at the eye-sore of a promenade), the following day both were covered in litter and there was a very bad smell about the place! Also, for some reason, Sanya appeared to be the number 1 holiday destination for Russian gangsters & their families?! But, if nothing else, Ben was able to use the time to do some work and help fund a bit more of the trip. The uninspiring photos (chosen from a very small selection) unfortunately reflect an uninspiring experience.

As it was, we had to leave a day earlier than planned in order to reach Vietnam before our Chinese visas ran out... so we headed up to the north of the island (some 3 hrs away), where we were just in time to catch the overnight ferry to Beihai on the mainland. From there we caught an early morning bus to Nanning, for our last day (& night) in China...